Taiwan rejects Vietnam’s tea imports?

17:28' 01/08/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Asked to make comments about the news that Taiwan rejected tea imports from Vietnam due to discovery of pesticide residues, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Tea Association Tran Van Gia said that he has not received any official announcement about that from the Taiwanese side. Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) on July 27 reported that the Food Sanitation Bureau (FSB) under the Taiwanese Department of Health (DOH) has discovered pesticide residues in a batch of green tea imported from Vietnam. Taiwanese authorities have decided to return 21 tonnes of o long (black dragon) tea imported on July 10, which contained the higher-than-allowed level of pesticide. CNA quoted Cheng Hui-wen, Director General of FSB as saying that the batch of green tea discovered on July 27 contained the residues of dicofol with the concentration of 0.15 ppm. Prior to that, a batch of 21 tonnes of o long tea was discovered to contain dicofol 0.09 ppm. On June 28, FSB decided to take compulsory examination on tea imports from Vietnam. Also on July 27, the online network in Spain language of CNA reported that a Taiwanese senator, Lai Shin-yuan, called on Taiwanese authority to prohibit importing tea of all kinds from Vietnam, and to consider the import resumption only when pesticide residues is solved. Prior to that, Hsieh Ting-hung, Deputy Director General of FSB, said that Vietnam’s o long tea, "mainly being planted by Taiwanese farmers in Vietnam", account for 73% of the total Taiwan’s tea imports. Mr Hsieh Ting-hung said that from 2005 to May 2007, FSB regularly examined tea imports from Vietnam and did not discover any violation of food safety rules. Mr Cheng Hui-wen said that Taiwanese authorities have informed Vietnam about the problem, and ask to tighten control over the use of pesticide in farm produce for export. The official has also threatened to take tougher measures if Taiwan discovers more imports that contain prohibited substances. Also according to Mr Cheng, DOH announced that from 2008, all kinds of packed food, including tea, must show the origin of product on the package. Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Tea Association on July 28 said that the association had not received any information from the Taiwanese authorities about the quality of tea imports from Vietnam. Mr Gia said that if the association receives the official announcement from the Taiwanese side, it would check the quality of tea exports. Meanwhile, Mr Gia has also mentioned the possibility that the bad news were spread in order to force the import price down. According to Tran Van Gia, every year Vietnam exports 500 tonnes of o long tea to Taiwan, while Taiwan needs 20,000 tonnes a year. There are 20 Taiwanese-invested tea companies in Vietnam among a total of 40 foreign-invested tea firms in the country. Taiwanese farmers also come to plant o long tea in Vietnam.. (Source: Tin Tuc, Viet Nam Net)